3M products

[maesal]

In mid-December my father removed the snow from my car with a stiff broom. It left ugly and quite deep scratches on the trunklid (new Spring Project).

We washed our cars together with a pal, who is a body shop guy and has quite good skills (as I thought) with the rotary.
He said that he`ll remove it. OK. Out came the 3M P-III Trizact compound and removed the defect in no time and left an LSP-ready surface. That was suspicious for me because it worked too fast and left a perfect finish. I thought: A polish can`t be that good! But I was pleasantly surprised nevertheless. I threw on a coat of 845, and we were finished.

Then came yesterday. I washed my car with my usual Sonax Gloss Shampoo/garden sprayer-foamer (Which in fact produces pretty good foam!) routine. I was surprised because the water was pooling on the trunk. How can it... Washed once again. I thought that it must be the 1Z -90°C windshield wash. Maybe it is too harsh on LSPs...

But I noticed that the water pooled exactly on that particular area where my pal polished the surface. After drying, I had to realize that the broom scratches are still there (lessened) and additionally, there are disgusting buffer trails too! The damned 3M just hid them! 1.5 months of near perfect illusion! I`ll never let a 3M polish touching my car again.

This little happening just taught me that a body shop guy is necessarily just as good as his materials dictate him. The 3M Trizact did a perfect-awful work. The guy thought that it was perfect, his skills were good enough and so did I. I was sceptical though, because of the time/cut/finish factor, but anyhow, I accepted the results. I was wrong.

I`m pretty sure that the unstable filler has compromised the durability of the 845. But I love polishes because of their honesty (like Menzerna, Optimum, FK), and not because of a deceiving illusion.

Wich 3M code is so plenty of fillers?

[Bence]

50077 P-i III Trizact Compound (violet cap).

[maesal]

50077 P-i III Trizact Compound (violet cap).

My god... I`ll receive maybe today 1 L of 50077
I hope that 50383 hasn`t fillers, I`ll receive 1 L of it also.
But it should cut as 09374 as 3M tell that you can use both in this stage, shouldn`t it?

[CharlesW]

My god... I`ll receive maybe today 1 L of 50077
I hope that 50383 hasn`t fillers, I`ll receive 1 L of it also.
But it should cut as 09374 as 3M tell that you can use both in this stage, shouldn`t it?

I can`t comment on 3M, but I do have a suggestion in your particular case.
If you contact 3M and find out that the products you are receiving aren`t going to be doing what you want, don`t use them.
If you can`t return them for at least a partial credit, sell them or give them to someone that wants lots of fillers.
Any costs you have to absorb will probably be well worth it to avoid the frustration that you may have to deal with.

Charles

[maesal]

I can`t comment on 3M, but I do have a suggestion in your particular case.
If you contact 3M and find out that the products you are receiving aren`t going to be doing what you want, don`t use them.
If you can`t return them for at least a partial credit, sell them or give them to someone that wants lots of fillers.
Any costs you have to absorb will probably be well worth it to avoid the frustration that you may have to deal with.

Charles

Thanks for the comments mate. The problem is that the products are comming from Germany, and the shipping costs will make not a nice deal return the product. I`ll try the product and I`ll take a decision.
Thanks again !!

[porta]

Ohh doesn´t sounds so good....I have a liter of the 80439 extra fine cut, and was going to order the 50077 and 50383. But I think I will wait...

Maesal: Use a ISO wipedown and see if it/and how much it will cover. Can you do that?

[maesal]

Ohh doesn´t sounds so good....I have a liter of the 80439 extra fine cut, and was going to order the 50077 and 50383. But I think I will wait...

Maesal: Use a ISO wipedown and see if it/and how much it will cover. Can you do that?

I planned doing that today on my father`s car. I`ll do a very light wetsand with 4000 grit to make some defects, and then I`ll use the Green Propel (not very agressive) and the 50077 and I`ll check if 1 pass leave the surface perfect. Then I`ll spritz IPA and I`ll do a wipedown and I`ll se the results and I`ll share them with you. If I don`t see any mark after IPA wipedown, I`ll try using Einszett Acrysol, I don`t know wich product will remove more fillers, I`ll try them. I`ll take pictures of the process.
After that, I`ll use the new 50383 and I`ll do the same.
But this will be tonight, this afternoon I`ll wax one car.
Regards !!

[audiboy]

I planned doing that today on my father`s car. I`ll do a very light wetsand with 4000 grit to make some defects

I`d suggest that you go to a junkyard and pick up a panel rather than doing it on a family members vehicle. You have a lot more room for error and won`t have an angry family member in case you screw something up.

[maesal]

I`d suggest that you go to a junkyard and pick up a panel rather than doing it on a family members vehicle. You have a lot more room for error and won`t have an angry family member in case you screw something up.

Don`t worry mate
I`m not the most experienced on wetsanding but I did some jobs about that. For example, removing orange peel from a resprayed panel of my car:

Before:





Wetsanded via PC + 2000 Grit:







Wetsanded:



Polishing via rotary (first yelow Propel v2 and 3M 09374 and after black LC and PO106FF):



I`ll use the 4000 Grit by hand, just to make some defects on the clear coat.
Thanks for the advice mate

[audiboy]

Well, from the looks of those pictures, I think you might have a grasp on what you`re doing.

Nice work!

[maesal]

Well, from the looks of those pictures, I think you might have a grasp on what you`re doing.

Nice work!

Thanks mate, I read lots from you. I`m a enthusiast detailer who read in lots of forums to learn from everyone. And, also, I could spread my poor english around the world !! hehehe
Regards mate.

[Bence]

I demoed the new Optimum family to my body shop pal recently. He used the 50077 as a comparison base (3M people just love stick to their stuff...?).

He started with OP and quickly decided that he doesn`t like it (showing me the still existing defects), switched to the 50077 and "removed them" very quickly. He just gleamed, smiled; and was generally satisfied. He used his old Festool rotary and for me the machine sounded/looked rather slow. I couldn`t figure out the RPM range but he said that it was around 900-1000 RPMs for both products and "look how the 3M removed the scratches". Wisely, I brought some Acrysol, took a shop towel and started to rub the polished area down. Ooops, the swirls reappeared. Then I suggested him to give the OP some speed, which he - a bit reluctantly - accepted. As he said he went up to 1300 and finished the panel. I let him do the wipedown (3&#215 and voila, no swirls. He was surprised and this was the first time I saw a mistrust in his eyes towards the 3M. We stopped there because he had to leave. Two weeks later, he ordered a bottle of OP & OHC.

However, I`d like to see more results with the 3M stuff from someone who is using a wider RPM range. Maesal, can you post your findings? (PM & email OK too)

[Bence]

Maesal, those Mirka pads are great, huh? I use them as well!

[audiboy]

Thanks mate, I read lots from you. I`m a enthusiast detailer who read in lots of forums to learn from everyone. And, also, I could spread my poor english around the world !! hehehe
Regards mate.

I wasn`t sure if anyone was actually paying attention to me or not.

That`s exactly how obtained 98% of my detailing knowledge. I just read as much as I can, post questions when I don`t understand something, and try to retain as much as possible. It`s nice to hear that I helped though.

[maesal]

I demoed the new Optimum family to my body shop pal recently. He used the 50077 as a comparison base (3M people just love stick to their stuff...?).

He started with OP and quickly decided that he doesn`t like it (showing me the still existing defects), switched to the 50077 and "removed them" very quickly. He just gleamed, smiled; and was generally satisfied. He used his old Festool rotary and for me the machine sounded/looked rather slow. I couldn`t figure out the RPM range but he said that it was around 900-1000 RPMs for both products and "look how the 3M removed the scratches". Wisely, I brought some Acrysol, took a shop towel and started to rub the polished area down. Ooops, the swirls reappeared. Then I suggested him to give the OP some speed, which he - a bit reluctantly - accepted. As he said he went up to 1300 and finished the panel. I let him do the wipedown (3×) and voila, no swirls. He was surprised and this was the first time I saw a mistrust in his eyes towards the 3M. We stopped there because he had to leave. Two weeks later, he ordered a bottle of OP & OHC.

However, I`d like to see more results with the 3M stuff from someone who is using a wider RPM range. Maesal, can you post your findings? (PM & email OK too)

I`ll post something maybe tonight and I hope to put pics.
Tomorroy I`ll receive 1 OHC as I used this past saturday the old one and I enjoyed it. 1 pass via rotary and green Propel v2 and every swirl was removed wit a finish acceptable. Then, one pass with 106FF and there was a mirror, not a car.
I obtained a 50 mL sample of Optimum Compound and the person who gave me the sample told me that OC has similar cut to RD3.01, maybe more. I`ll try it other day.
I`ll receive also Presta polishes.
My god, I`ve lots of things to try and not much time and cars...
Mirka PADs are great, I`ve 2000 and 4000 grit. I`ve also 3000 grit from 3M and they`re good.
Regards mate !!